At first glance they looked like weird decorations to brighten the cavernous Paris summit site – 140 colourful, semi-transparent animal shapes that line the avenue between the huge buildings. But like everything on Planet-COP they are imbued with climate-related meaning.
It turns out they are a modern-day “Noah’s Ark” created by a French street artist, Gad Weil, after a meeting with French sustainable development minister Ségolène Royal.
Big pink kangaroos in Paris pic.twitter.com/e851Wza1mQ
— Lenore Taylor (@lenoretaylor) December 2, 2015
“In the biblical version of Noah’s Ark, it is the flood that men and animals of these ancient times had to face; with Arche de Noé Climat, it is global warming that our animals have to fight against,” Weil explains on the Noah’s Ark project website.
They were created in “surreal size”, of course from recycled materials, and toured France before the summit, collecting messages and stories from French people, especially children, which are broadcast at an exhibition at the meeting.
Large animals in Paris pic.twitter.com/NViCcGapXA
— Lenore Taylor (@lenoretaylor) December 2, 2015
But even without knowing their story and meaning they come in handy when navigating around the 18 hectare site.
I’ve been receiving directions to meetings along the lines of “turn right at the blue giraffe and then left at the red camel”. And on Planet Cop, it makes perfect sense.
